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Europe’s elite descend on Monaco for Champions League draw

August 30, 2018 – 8:21 am | Views: 42

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The draw for this season’s Champions League group stage takes place in Monaco on Thursday, with a repeat of last season’s final between Real Madrid and Liverpool among the potential mouthwatering match-ups.

Real won the trophy for the third season running — and 13th time overall — when they beat Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev in May, although their hopes of making it four in a row were hit by the subsequent departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and resignation of coach Zinedine Zidane.

With Julen Lopetegui now in charge, Real’s status as holders ensures they will be one of the top seeds in the draw, which will begin just after 6pm (1600 GMT) at the Grimaldi Forum in the glittering Mediterranean principality.

They will be joined by Europa League holders Atletico Madrid and the champions of the six highest-ranked domestic leagues in Europe.

None of the top seeds can play each other, so Real will not be drawn in the same group as Ronaldo’s new club Juventus. Teams from the same country will be kept apart in the group stage as well.

But Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, five-time European champions, are among the leading names not in Pot 1, along with fellow Premier League clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

They will all be hoping to avoid the biggest names in Pot 1, with Russian champions Lokomotiv Moscow the least imposing name of all the top seeds.

Fewer places for smaller leagues

The Champions League is now dominated more than ever before by clubs from the continent’s biggest domestic leagues.

It was in August 2016 that plans were announced to guarantee four spots in the group stages to the top four leagues in Europe — Spain’s Primera Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A.